Gresham's School in Wartime

We would like to invite people who have an interest in our WWI story to get in touch with us through the blog. Our sixth form researchers will be contributing their own experiences of the project to the blog and we hope to update the website as new material becomes available. If you have any relevant comments or contributions of stories or archive material we would be delighted to hear from you.

This year Gresham’s has been able
to get involved with the Imperial War Museum’s Living Memory Project in which communities remember the ‘forgotten
front’ of the 300,000 war graves and memorials in the UK. Head of Teaching & Learning, Simon Kinder,
will visit the local graves of three OGs Robert Beeton, Frederick Chestney, and Mervyn
Trendell to lay flowers and leave a marker of their stories in remembrance with
three representatives of the CCF. The WWI CAS team have researched the boys and
written the following short pieces about them :

Robert Henry Beeton

Born on 27 March 1899, the son of carpenter Robert Samuel Beeton, he attended as a dayboy from 1911 to 1915 and went on to study business for a year at St. George's College, London. After that he went to the RFC cadet school in Farnborough in 1917, and was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in December. Robert died of severe burns received in a flying accident near Huntingdon on 1 February 1918 and is buried in the graveyard at Weybourne Church. At his funeral were sixteen members of the OTC in uniform, some scarcely younger than him.

Frederick William Chestney

Fred was a local boy who lived in Holt his whole life. He was born on February 9 1899 and started school as a dayboy in 1910. In his five years at School he fell in love with the idea of being a teacher, and after leaving in 1915 he joined Holt County School as an assistant. He was conscripted in March 1917, just a month before his 18th birthday, and became a teacher in an army school. Frederick was almost immediately struck by tragedy as he became ill with TB in May and was in hospital until July when he was discharged from the army. He spent his last few months at home battling the illness before he passed away on 30 January 1918, just days before his 19th birthday. Frederick is buried in the cemetery of Holt Church.

Mervyn Henry WollastonTrendell

Mervyn was born on 8 July 1899, the youngest son of Rev. George Trendell of Sheringham, and attended from 1913 to 16. He gained his wings in the RNAS after leaving School, and was reported to be the only one in his class entitled to have the letters 'VGI'(very good indeed) after his name. He joined HMSGaletea in February 1918, and was flying a Sopwith Camel carrying despatches when his plane clipped a tree and crashed in May. Seriously injured, he was taken to a RN hospital where he died of his injuries on 19 May aged 18. His body was brought home and buried in the churchyard at Upper Sheringham where his father was vicar.